About the Artist
Michael Mahue Moore
Las Vegas, NV
Michael Mahue Moore is a multidisciplinary creator whose artistic journey began at age five with a cartoon character and Art Linkletter's phone call — and never stopped. Born and raised on the north side of St. Louis, Moore has spent more than five decades answering a single creative imperative: to intrigue, entertain, and capture attention. His work spans fine art painting, muralism, published novels, and a lifelong perfectionist's obsession with understanding how things actually work — whether that's color theory, narrative structure, or the human condition itself. A US Navy veteran with eight years of honorable service, a two-year boxing champion on Guam, a former professional athlete, and a 44-year career in the computer industry as a Master Electronic Officer aboard USNS vessels, Moore's life reads like a novel he might have written. And in fact, he has — nine of them, six already published, with the rest on the flight line ready to take off. His art studio in Birmingham, Alabama once taught more than 70 students. His murals have transformed walls across the American South. His paintings, he says with characteristic precision, are still works in progress — because the masterpiece has yet to be painted. Now based in Las Vegas since 2022, Moore continues to create with the same intensity that once made his brother steal his Marvel Comics sketches to sell for lunch money. Father of two daughters, grandfather of four, and a man who approaches cooking, writing, and canvas work with identical rigor, Moore represents the kind of creative endurance that doesn't announce itself — it just keeps showing up, day after day, with something new to say.
“Michael Mahue Moore creates with the precision of a perfectionist and the confidence of a man who has spent five decades proving that boldness matters. A US Navy veteran, published novelist, former professional athlete, and master fine artist based in Las Vegas, Moore's work commands attention without asking for it. His paintings reflect a lifetime of discipline across multiple creative fields — meticulous in technique, unapologetic in presence, and driven by a singular creative mandate: to intrigue, entertain, and capture the viewer's eye. Moore approaches every canvas with the knowledge that his masterpiece is still ahead of him — and the determination to keep painting until he finds it.”
Artist Statement
Medium
Oil Paint, Acrylic Paint
Style
Contemporary, Photorealistic Art
Languages
English
Process
In the Studio
THE PAINTING PROCESS Michael Mahue Moore's approach to painting is shaped by decades of discipline across multiple creative fields — and by a perfectionist's refusal to settle for approximation. His process begins not with the brush, but with observation. Whether working from life, memory, or imagination, Moore insists on understanding the internal mechanics of his subject before attempting to render it. This is the mindset of a man who spent 44 years in the computer industry and eight years in the Navy: nothing is decorative until it first makes structural sense. "Draw big and bold. Don't be those little puny faces. I want to see your work!" That directive — delivered by his high school art teacher Ms. Billie Phillips at the Visual and Performing Arts High School in St. Louis — remains the emotional engine of Moore's studio practice. His paintings command space. They refuse to whisper. Whether working on canvas or wall-scale murals, Moore approaches composition with the confidence of an artist who learned his craft by copying Marvel Comics heroes at age six and later taught more than 70 students in his Birmingham studio. The work is meticulous, but never timid. Moore's technical process reflects his dual background in fine art and illustration. He builds form through careful value structures, blocking in major shapes before refining detail. Color choices are deliberate, often testing relationships on preliminary studies before committing to the final surface. His mural work — large-scale public commissions requiring precision, endurance, and the ability to project an image across architectural space — has honed his capacity to balance immediacy with control. A Moore painting doesn't announce itself as labored, but the hours are embedded in the surface. "Everything from my art to writing and cooking is done with the objective of intriguing, entertaining and capturing the attention of the viewer or listener." The studio itself operates on routines refined over five decades. Moore paints with the consistency of someone who has held professional commitments across multiple careers — athlete, sailor, electronics officer, novelist, teacher. He doesn't wait for inspiration; he generates momentum. Canvases are prepped in advance. Tools are organized. Sessions begin with a plan and end with documentation of what worked, what didn't, and what the next session will address. This is the work ethic of a man who served eight years in the military, survived two years as a boxing champion on a remote island, and published six novels while maintaining a full-time career. The masterpiece he's chasing isn't a fantasy — it's a project plan, and he's methodically working through the steps.